AURORA, Colo. — A 16-year-old being held on suspicion of first-degree murder could find out this week whether prosecutors will file charges in juvenile court – or adult court.
Aurora police arrested the teen on Saturday, 10 days after Miguel Angel Saucedo Araujo, 49, was shot and killed at his home in the 900-block of Paris Street.
According to police, he and his son heard someone stealing scooters from their backyard shortly before 5 a.m. on Aug. 23, jumped into a pickup, and gave chase. But they backed off after someone shot at them, and returned home.
That’s when, according to police, someone driving by opened fire, hitting the man.
The suspect arrested Saturday hasn’t been publicly identified.
The decision of whether to charge the suspect in juvenile or adult court falls to Arapahoe County District Attorney John Kellner – and there are 11 factors laid out in Colorado law that guide the decision. They include the age, mental status, and prior criminal history of the suspect – and the crime itself, its effect on the community, whether a deadly weapon was used and whether it was pre-meditated.
“Those factors are difficult to weigh, but that's what the district attorney's office has to do in a case involving a 16-year-old potential defendant,” 9NEWS legal analyst Scott Robinson said.
There are major implications for the suspect tied to that decision.
“If convicted of first-degree murder, a juvenile charged in juvenile court is probably going to spend no more than seven years in custody,” Robinson said. “In adult court, it's life with parole possible after 40 years.
“That's a 33-year disparity in potential sentences – and that underlines the importance of the decision of where to file a case against a juvenile offender on the part of a DA.”
Robinson said, statistically, it’s likely the suspect in this case will be charged in adult court. However, the boy’s attorneys will have the option to try to move the case back to juvenile court – a process that could take weeks or months.
If the case ultimately is tried in adult court, the suspect’s identity will be made public.
In the meantime, Aurora police said the investigation is ongoing and that other arrests are likely.
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